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Here’s an interesting story from Birmingham, England where the city government’s IT Dept rolled out linux desktops to their government offices:
Birmingham City Council claims open-source success
I was recently inspired by an article in Inc. magazine on Excellent Packaging and Supply (EPS), a company that makes eco friendly forks, plates, trash liners, etc.
At Excellent Packaging & Supply, it almost seems as if the plates and tableware themselves are the menu. This small distributor, based in Richmond, California, provides a vital link between the manufacturers of compostable and biodegradable utensils and food packaging, many of them scattered overseas, and a growing number of corporate and institutional customers…
I love the ‘made from food for eating food’ angle. I wonder if the pricing is reasonable? Maybe Miriam could look into it for the Deli.
ZingNet, don’t just track time on your work… make artwork from it!
ZipCar, in collaboration with the U of M, has placed 6 cars in Ann Arbor, in 3 locations.
Zipcars live in your neighborhood! Drive MINIs, VWs, cars that haul and more. By the hour or day. Includes gas, insurance and parking. Simply reserve online, walk a block and drive away.
This is both a tech and eco find. Reservation of the cars is done online and access to the car is through a magnetic stripe card. By sharing transportation assets in a high density area we can reduce the use of individual cars for errand and other short trips.
Question: Should the IT dept join and give it a try for a couple of months? (The nearest cars are an 11-minute walk.)
Links: To Find the Cars, AutoblogGreen
In creating a new user account I failed to make a user a member of a needed security group. The user called to inquire as to why he was unable to access certain departmental resources after logging on, I sincerely apologized and was able to quickly recognize and fix the problem.
After correcting the issue we realized that making it part of our WRITTEN standard operating procedure for creating new accounts would be a great way to help prevents this from happening in the future.
I’ll admit up front that I’m enthralled by this new web application. Not necessarily for what it can do today (though it is pretty awesome today) but for what the potential is.
Wesabe is a personal finance web app that makes Quicken look like a stuffy old paper ledger. It combines social/community networking (a la Flickr) with personal finance and provides three main tools to help you understand your finances, save money, and reach financial goals. These features are called in Wesabe; tags, tips, and goals. Tags are the by now familiar and reassuring system of labeling that ties in to others similar labels and leverages information, ie, I can see for my ‘books’ tag what others top merchants are and their ranking, what people spend on average, and what tips folks have. Tips are ways to save money that folks write up to share with others - all based on a tag. Goals are what you write to set yourself financial, uh, goals. They are shared and overlapped and available for discussion.
Code Green from Izaak for Elph:
[Loved the Service] A guest brought a blue Lurisia to the register, then realized she wanted a carbonated one. Before I could switch it for her a mysterious hand came around and grabbed it… It was Elph who was next in line to pay and had overheard. He sprinted to the pop case and switched the bottles… Thanks!
November 17, 2006
5:30-10:00pm
Craig’s house
Menu:
Olives, cheese and bread
Broiled white fish with caper sauce
Wasabi mashed potatoes
Green bean salad with onions and prosciutto
Bananas foster
Bonny Dune Pacific Rim Riesling
Madeira
Hmm. Wondering about whether it would be productive to have a video camcorder inhouse for shooting various gigs around the ZCoB? Could be used for facilitator training, huddles, staff meetings, events, classes… Maybe. Most likely scenario would be taking it to a video format like a podcast rather than studio quality. Questions to answer: is there a potential demand, who would provide time doing the shooting, who would do the studio/editing work, what would be the best equipmnet for this purpose? Last first…
HD Camcorder looks like the way to go. MPEG-2. 7 hours of room at highest quality. No tapes, no mess.
Apple tutorial on making video podcasts
Sony DCR-S100 or for future proofing go HD with the Sony HDR-SR1 AVCHD
Sony DCR-S100 Review and Sony HDR-SR1 AVCHD Review
2 lb potatoes
1 C heavy cream
4 oz butter, pads
1 tbsp Wasabi paste
1 C spinach leaves
1 C watercress leaves
Sea Salt
Red pepper flakesPuree spinach and watercress. Strain, set aside.
Cook potatoes in salted, boiling water. Mash. Whisk in cream and butter slowly. Stir in wasabi and puree before serving, salt and pepper to taste.
JoeG’s notes: The spinach-watercress puree is what gives the potatoes a great green color. I skipped it, and I don’t think I lost any flavor. Substitute togarishi for the red pepper flakes to better compliment the wasabi. Calder Dairy heavy whipping cream gave the potatoes great fluff and flavor.
